This invention relates to a motor vehicle and in particular to a mechanism for stowing a roof panel of a motor vehicle.
It is known from, for example, European Patent publication 1564053 to provide a stowable roof assembly for a motor vehicle having a number of rigid panels that are moveable between in use and stowed positions.
It is a problem with vehicles having a stowable roof that the roll over protection afforded by such a roof construction is normally less than that provided by a fixed roof.
To mitigate this increase in risk to occupants of the motor vehicle it is further known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,785 and GB 2,425,093 to provide a deployable device that can provide protection to the occupants in the event of a vehicle roll over occurring.
It is an object of this invention to provide an actuation mechanism for a stowable roof panel that is of a simple but robust construction so as to provide improved roll over protection and that can be manufactured in a cost effective manner.